Nets’ Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Is Out Indefinitely

The reeling Nets received another blow on Monday when they learned that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, their promising rookie small forward, would be out indefinitely with a broken bone in his right ankle.

Hollis-Jefferson, 20, sat out the Nets’ loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday with the injury — a nondisplaced fracture of the posterior talus — which the team had initially described as a sprained ankle. Hollis-Jefferson sustained the injury in practice on Saturday afternoon, and the fracture was revealed in a computerized tomography scan on Monday morning.

The Nets, who dropped to 5-15 on Sunday night, said Hollis-Jefferson would have surgery this week to repair the fracture. The team said a timetable for his return would be established upon completion of the procedure. Nets Coach Lionel Hollins said on Monday that Bojan Bogdanovic would take Hollis-Jefferson’s spot in the starting lineup.

Hollis-Jefferson had been one of the bright spots on a struggling team, starting 14 of the Nets’ 19 games this season. He averaged 5.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in about 22 minutes per game.

Hollis-Jefferson was particularly important to the team on the defensive end, where his springy style and ability to clog passing lanes disrupted opposing teams. When he was on the court this season, the Nets allowed 98.9 points per 100 possessions. When he was not playing, the average rose to 107.1.